Wheels for wheelpants

[Bill Sawyer]

I have been looking for a source for narrow wheels to fit inside wheel pants. I have wanted to make the width of my wheel pants narrower. There are some 2 inch foam wheels ( Dave Brown if I remember correctly ) that are only 1/2 inch wide but they wear out on hard surfaes and will flatten if the plane is left sitting on the wheels. I installed access panels in the wheel pants but I didn't like those so I changed to the Hangar 9 wheels. Yes they were wider but by putting them on my belt sander and removing all the tire rubber down even with the wheel rim they got fairly narrow. A little Sharpie ink to change the dull finish back to black and they were fairly acceptable. After removing a lot of skin and fingernails, I figured there had to be a better method. Better yet there is possibly some secret brand of wheel I have not heard of. So whats the way everyone else is doing it?

[Balsa Butcher]

Bill: Mark Warashana (I probably spelled that wrong) supplies narrow racing wheels for the racing and carrier community. I bought mine through Wayne Buran, but Mark advertises in "Flying Lines", which is the excellent on-line newsletter for the Northwest Region Control line clubs. They are very narrow/streamlined, of the highest quality and wear well. Check it out.  

[Rudy Taube]

Bill,

These may be good for your narrow wheel pants. I have them on several airplanes. They are very light, strong enough, and very narrow. And inexpensive.  Your LHS should have them.

            http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTDS7&P=ML

They come in several (Dia.) sizes.
     

[Randy Powell]

Rudy,

I've used these but they wear out pretty quickly. At least for me.

[Brett Buck]

Rudy,

I've used these but they wear out pretty quickly. At least for me.

   Me too, but they are cheap and you want to make provision for replacing them, anyway. I generally replace my wheels (Dave Brown or these kind) just before the NATs every year.

     Brett

[Mike Haverly]

I used these on my new classic model.  I had to bush them to get a good fit on the axle and roll straight.

Mike

[Rudy Taube]

Rudy,

I've used these but they wear out pretty quickly. At least for me.

Hi Randy,

Good point. I forgot to mention that I fly 98% off of grass. Like Mike said, putting a brass bushing on them would be a good idea on pavement where they roll a lot longer and faster. I don't know how well the tire will hold up if someone flies mostly off of pavement?

[Mike Lauerman]

We used to use racing wheels to get them to fit inside the narrow wheel pants. There is a source that was mentioned on here, but I can't find it.  H^^Luckily I still have three sets of them. Two installed on my Cobra and on an Ares.

type in "racing wheels " in the search box. Lots of info there.

Racing wheels work well, except for the 'knife-edge' tread look. I used some oversized ones, (3") chucked them in my electric die grinder, and took off 1/4" on the belt sander, shaping them as I went. Looked good.
For my Golden Age stuff, (Gee Bees, Mystery Ship, etc.) I use Williams Bros. 'Golden Age', as they are scale spokes with simulated fabric covering. They allow a narrow, scale pant.
That said, the Mystery Ship has pants big enough to be worn by Homies! (these would allow a wider tire...but I still used the Wms. Bros. Golden Age type, bushed with brass)

[Bill Little]

I like the idea of the "take apart" wheel pants best of all, and I have done it several times.  Of course, my Geo Juno is about 13-14 years old and on its original Dave Brown Lite Flites.

I have several sets of the old Veco "Grasscutters" (1 7/8" streamlines) that I use on my old I-Beamers.  They are fairly hard solid rubber, but even those will wear down on pavement.  Thankfully (in some regards) I only have grass fields to fly off of around here which really cuts down on wear.

Big Bear

[john e. holliday]

Bill, what size wheels are you looking for diameter wise?   I have some Glenn Lee wheels that are made for racing that I use in some of my stunt planes.  They are a very hard material he molds around the hub.  They are in color also.  depending on the size I have.

[Jim Mitchell]

There was a wheel that was called DON'S wheels   i think les Mcdonald used them on his Stilleto. they would be what you need.   Jim

[Allen Brickhaus]

When resizing foam type wheels, put the entire wheel assembly in the freezer,  they seem to shape better when frozen.

Allen Brickhaus